Friend
by crescent-moon-demon
Summary: *Slight Au* Hellbat was new in the care-centre, until Leozack came along. And suddenly, he didn't mind being the new kid as long as he got to be Leozack's friend. But... would he ever get that chance? Sparklings drabble, Fluff, Angst


**C.M.D: Let's see... I wrote, _The Intro of Death Cobra_, _Sacrifice_ and Sweet _Lie_, and then after that fair bit of angst, I thought 'What the slag, I'm already on a roll here with HellbatxLeozack stuff. Let's throw in some cute sparkling fluff!' Well... apparently fluff got mixed with angst and created this little beau of a fic. Kinda like a beginning story/drabble for these two, before they became soldiers. ...sorta...  
Anyways, I won't ramble on any longer. Go ahead; read! I hope you enjoy yet another fic! ^ ^**

* * *

The Destron Fortress was more than just a strong hold and a weapon.

Indeed, to the hundreds of family living within its walls, this formidable structure was their home. The higher and lower levels were out of bounds to anyone but the soldiers of the war effort. The top being the control room that maintained the Fortress' stability and energy output to all levels; at the bottom, access to the spacecraft's thrusters and to the few dungeons that had been built in case of prisoners or criminal activity amongst the Destrons.

Of course, such a notion was a silly one. The mechs and femmes aboard lived together peacefully; stealing or murder were non-existent things in the Fortress.

But work was not. It was necessary for many 'bots to sustain the ship at all times, and with how many more Destrons were currently enlisted in war training, waiting for their chance to be called into battle to help their leader in the great fight, that meant that the civilians were pulling double-duty. The demand for so many workers created the equally as desperate need for someone to watch the multitudes of children being sparked, and thus large care-centres were constructed on the middle levels of the Fortress.

It was in these buildings that many beginnings began...

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

He'd spent a week at this new care-centre since his carrier had been transferred up to the higher levels, and for a while, he hated it. The little blue jet, by the name of Hellbat, wished to be back at his old facility, where he knew everything and everyone, but this place was closer to their new quarters his momma said and so, here he would stay. The next few days saw nothing but a pouting sparkling who kept to himself and didn't bother to interact with the others, despite his caretakers' encouragement. On the fifth day, a strange teal mechling was admitted to the care-centre and Hellbat found himself curious.

Sneaking about and making deals with his centre-mates (energon goodies were in high demand, and the blue Destron was anything if not versatile at getting them), Hellbat had managed to dig up some information on the mysterious sparkling. Leozack, as the other's name was, was amazing in the jet's processor.

A jet like himself, Leozack was of the tomcat model, and had pretty, little teal wings with a yellow stripe down the middle of each of the sheet plating. He had a unique mane that framed either side of his face, giving him a bit of a girlish appearance that clashed a little with the scowl that always seemed glued to the sparkling's lip components. He even talked with a bit of a high pitch in his vocalizer (as was common for many sparklings during this age of their function), but his words were usually cutting or downright cruel, giving Leozack an attitude that he was snobby; something that was further portrayed every time the jet crossed his arms before his chestplates and lifted his olfactory sensor just a tad so he would be looking down it when he stared at you.

Definitely, Leozack wasn't a favourite among the other sparklings, but Hellbat was utterly fascinated with him.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

"Hi, I'm Hellbat."

The teal sparkling shuttered his optics slowly, turning away from his drawing pad and looking up at the other Destron looming over him. Even with his mouthguard on, Leozack could tell that the idiot was grinning like a fool -it was obvious in his glittering optics.

Sniffing in disdain, the tomcat returned his attention back to his picture, adding some explosions to the horribly-drawn image of two mechs fighting. Hellbat shuttered his optics at the callous dismissal, fidgeting after a few astroseconds passed with the other sparkling still ignoring him.

"Umm... I want to be friends. Want to go play?"

This time, Leozack actually glared at him, before rising to his pedes and stomping across the room to another sitting spot. The blue jet decided not to follow after him.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

"You know, I think you're really awesome. I mean, you're tough and smart and very beautiful... Not at all like these other dumbnodes here. I don't want to play with any of them, and I like them even less, but you're not at all like them and so I really want to be your friend 'cause I think-"

Leozack snapped his book shut testily, his helm snapping up to the sparkling buzzing around him, happily rambling away. Seeing that the had the other's attention, the rafale jet fell quiet, waiting eagerly for whatever the teal sparkling would say.

"_Go...a ... way!_," was all Leozack hissed, denta bared sharply at Hellbat. Dropping his book on the floor, the tomcat got up and slunk off further into the care-centre; shoving a sparkling or two along the way.

Hellbat pouted, sitting down and picking up the book that had been abandoned by the other Destron.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

The next day, Leozack wasn't at the care-centre. They were making care-gifts, which were they supposed to exchange with their fellow sparklings. Hellbat was half-way through his own gift -a sloppy star going super-nova with a thin slot between the metal parts to allow energon goodies to be slipped inside for safe keeping. In theory, with the right amount of energon goodies, the little slots in the plating would allow the star to look like it was almost glowing. Some femme had already been pestering him earlier, wanting his star, but Hellbat wasn't going to give it to her.

He was making his care-gift especially for Leozack and he was the only one who'd be getting it.

Pausing in his work, the jet glanced around the room, feeling his wings droop a little lower behind him sadly. He couldn't understand why the teal sparkling wasn't here today, and hoped that his absence was only temporary. Hellbat would absolutely hate it if Leozack got transferred to another facility.

Shaking his helm to try and get rid of the depressing thoughts, the blue Destron turned his attention back to his project, determined to make it the best.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

Leozack was back in the care-centre two orns later.

"H-here!"

The teal mech, a little dinged up and in a fouler mood than on the last orn he had been there, sat by himself by the bookshelves again. He glared heatedly as Hellbat skipped over, whipping something out from behind his backstruts and holding out a badly wrapped parcel for the other sparkling. Leozack did not take it.

Hellbat, flustering now, lowered his helm a little; his cheekplates darkening with his blush and his servos trying to push his gift forward a little more. "U-umm... it's for, c-care-day," the blue one stuttered. "E-everyone m-made gifts, and we w-were to share t-them, b-but you weren't he-here... s-so I-i-i made t-this one just f-for you."

The other sparkling still wasn't taking his gift, but he wasn't turning away either. In fact, he seemed to be almost... surprised, at Hellbat's consideration. Blushing deeper, the rafale jet plopped down before Leozack; ripping back the plastic wrapping under the other's intense scrutiny and holding the softly-glowing metal star out for the teal Destron to take again.

The blue mech thought his spark might implode when his centre-mate slowly reached out and took the gift.

"T-the glow is f-from the energon g-goodies inside. I-it's a container f-for keeping t-them in, b-but you can put w-whatever you wa-want inside. I-it doesn't m-matter," Hellbat helpfully supplied, watching in growing joy as Leozack twisted the star this way and that, studying it.

"...you made this for me...?," came the soft inquiry.

Hellbat glanced upwards and grinned behind his mouthguard when his optics met with the tomcat's. "Only you!," he assured.

Leozack said nothing. Clutching the gift to his chestplates, he got up and quickly walked away. Confused and just a little hurt, the blue sparkling watched him go; his helm dropping to the floor as he wrapped his arms around his legs sadly.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

"It's... Hellbat, right?"

Dropping his stylus, the sparkling spun around at the question, staring in bewilderment up at Leozack. The tomcat had his arms crossed over his chestplates as per usual, but the frown on his face was different than usual. It seemed oddly... contemplative...

"Y-yes!," Hellbat squeaked, his spark starting to whirl quickly now. "C-can I...u-um, I mean, d-do you need h-help with anything?"

The teal sparkling canted his helm to the side a little, his optics never leaving the other jet. "You want to be my friend, correct?"

The rafale nodded his helm vigorously, unable to push any words out of his vocalizer through his immense joy. "Alright then," Leozack said next, making the blue sparkling's entire universe. "I'll be your friend. But..."

Hellbat shuttered his optics at the 'but'.

Glancing around them quickly to make sure that no one was nearby, the tomcat leaned forwards, his optics hardening into a fierce glare. "I'll only be your friend, if you do whatever I say... whenever I say it," the Destron hissed. "Is that clear?"

Again, the blue jet merely nodded his helm, overcome with happiness at Leozack's willingness to become his friend. Even if it came with conditions, Hellbat didn't mind. Backing away a little, the teal jet's wings lowered a tad, not nearly as rigid as before, the glare dropping from his expression.

"Good...," Leozack breathed. "Now move over. I want to sit here too."

Eagerly, Hellbat gathered his drawing pad and stylus, scooting over so that there would be room on the bench for his new friend. He didn't even mind it that all the tomcat did next was sit down and ignore him as he read his book, too high in his feelings, that out of all the sparklings here, only the blue sparkling was worthy of Leozack's time.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

Hellbat foolishly tried to hug Leozack a week into their friendship.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Caught off-guard by the sudden scream, the blue jet was not prepared for when the other sparkling shoved him away, kicking him repeatedly for extra measure. His centre-mates watched in horror as the caretakers rushed over, pulling the screaming and writhing tomcat away; Leozack shouting violent threats into the air as they carried him into a private corner for a stern talking to and a time-out.

Nodding his helm at the other caretakers' questions of concern, Hellbat busied himself with other activities until his friend finished his punishment. Cautiously padding up to Leozack, who had retreated to the bookshelves in his freedom, the rafale sat down nervously beside the teal sparkling; playing with his fingers idly as he stared at the floor beneath his pedes.

"I...I'm really sorry," Hellbat apologized softly. "I d-didn't know y-you didn't w-want to be hugged... I-i promise I w-won't do it again. S-so... so pl-please, still b-be my friend." The blue Destron hesitated a pleading glance upwards, surprised to see Leozack looking back at him.

His glare intensifying, the blue sparkling quickly ducked his helm again, assuming that this meant he couldn't be the teal jet's friend anymore. The thought brought tears to Hellbat's optics.

"Fine...," the tomcat grumbled after a moment, making the other mech choke in shock.

The rafale lifted his helm again, almost uncertain whether to believe his struck of good luck. Leozack was avidly avoiding looking back at him, his scowl turned to the floor as he picked at a spare datapad that had been left out by one of their centre-mates.

"You can still be my friend...," the teal sparkling continued, "But don't ever do that again. Or I won't play with you anymore."

Hellbat nodded his helm quickly, smiling at the floor in relief.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

Naptime was usually a favourite among both the sparklings and caretakers alike. While the little ones finally got the rest they longed for come lunch time, the adults got a cycle to themselves. Usually, the caretakers stayed in the room for only about ten kliks -long enough to make sure all the sparklings were well and into recharge- before they left to go eat and talk in the next room. They were never very far and if they did hear something, they would be coming back into the room before any trouble could start.

In theory, if you were quiet enough, you had free run of the room for the rest of the cycle. For Hellbat, this was a perfect time to get up to whatever scheming or sneaking about that he had planned. Usually, he spent his free time stealing supplies or goodies from the cupboards, maybe set up a trap or two for some sparkling that had made fun of him earlier in the orn, but the majority of it was spent watching Leozack sleep.

He didn't understand what it meant when the adults said "he looks so peacefully in recharge" until he'd watched the teal sparkling. Unfortunately, the scowl followed Leozack into recharge most times; sometimes even deepening, so that the tomcat was half-snarling, half-whimpering in his sleep. But on rare occasions, the scowl and the furrowing of Leozack's brow smoothed out, his wings lowering and his intakes gentle. Hellbat thought the other sparkling must of been dreaming in these instances, for he looked too beautiful then to be merely thinking of mundane things while he recharged.

Since the beginning of their friendship, Leozack had been resting much more easier the blue sparkling noticed, and Hellbat relished the moment when the caretakers left the room so he could tip-toe over and keep vigil over the other jet. Keeping his optics shuttered and his intakes shallow, the Destron listened as the adults finally gathered, tip-toeing out the door and letting it slide silently behind them. Sparing a few extra moments for safety, Hellbat readied himself to get up and cross the room to Leozack.

He was understandably unprepared for when he felt someone pad up to his helm, before lying down in front of him.

"You can online your optics, idiot," came Leozack's soft grumble, "I know you're awake."

Doing as he was told, Hellbat stared stunned into the teal sparkling's face, mouth gaping behind his mouthguard. The tomcat offered no explanation to ease the poor mech's confusion, merely lifting up the corner of Hellbat's blanket, scooting closer to the blue jet. Though he desperately wanted to, the rafale refrained from hugging Leozack, not wanting to upset his friend and lose this rare opportunity for intimacy.

Letting the blanket drape over them, Leozack silently stared at the other sparkling, before his gaze dropped down after a klik and his expression darkened.

"Don't move," he quietly hissed, to which Hellbat immediately stiffened in response.

Casting a quick glare at the blue Destron, the tomcat slid a servo forward anxiously; letting his fingertips slowly across Hellbat's neck cables. The sparkling tried not to giggle at the soft touches, keeping himself rigid as best as he could, just as Leozack had ordered him. He didn't mind it when the touch dipped to trace along the rise and fall of his chestplates, mapping out the contours and stroking the metal sensuously. When the fingers slid lower, is when Hellbat started to think this wasn't so funny anymore...

He stared, silently at Leozack, finding that his friend wasn't even looking up at him but down between their two frames. The tomcat's servo slid up and down his abdomen, pausing, with fingertips hovering, just above his pelvic plating.

"...Leozack?," he whispered, as the kliks dragged on, with nothing happening.

As if he'd suddenly been scalded, the teal sparkling ripped his servo back, snapping his helm up and glaring at Hellbat. The blue jet was quick to lower his gaze, confused again, but not wanting his friend to leave him. After a moment, he looked back up, to see that Leozack had calmed down a bit (though he was still glaring) and he smiled apologetically in return.

"Go to sleep," was all the tomcat said.

Shuttering his optics, Hellbat, for the first time in a long while, fell into recharge with the rest of his centre-mates; lulled to sweet dreams by the warmth of the sparkling lying so close to him.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

If he had been aware at the time, the blue sparkling would have noticed that orn with the naptime incident was the start of Leozack's odd behavior.

Oh, it wasn't so noticeable at first. The teal jet still didn't like interacting with any of his other centre-mates, and he talked with them even less, but he started to include Hellbat in everything he did and if someone tried to take the rafale's attention away from him at anytime, Leozack grew territorial and would throw a fit. The first couple times he got angry and threw these temper tantrums, he was put in the corner and his creators were informed.

Leozack was away from the care-centre for a few orns after that.

When he came back, he always seemed a little more paler in one spot of his plating, or there was a ding or scratch in a spot that there hadn't been one before. Hellbat must have been the only one to notice, because he was always the first one Leozack sought out on his return.

Eventually though, the volatile sparkling stopped throwing these fits, but the blue Destron did note that there was a higher percentage of sparklings injuring themselves on the orns when Hellbat was bothered or forced to play with his centre-mates. Not that he really cared. Hellbat only liked playing with Leozack anyways.

One naptime, he was pulled from his recharge spot and forced to tip-toe across the room to the bookshelves. The bookshelves were positioned in an octagonal-formation, with a wide enough space open for 'bots to come in and out of the area, so when a sparkling sat in the middle, they were hidden from view on almost every angle. Forced to sit down, Hellbat watched as Leozack took a seat across from him, that scowl on his face again.

The rafale waited, eager to know what was on his friend's processor, but the teal sparkling said nothing for a few long kliks. Eventually, as Hellbat started to squirm under the intense scrutiny, Leozack said, "Your mouthguard. I don't like it. Take it off."

The blue jet shuttered his optics at the demand. "But..."

The tomcat glared. Not wanting this to escalate into a fight, Hellbat quickly adhered to the command, reaching up and manually clicking off his mouthguard. His carrier said he was supposed to keep it on at all times, because it helped in keeping impurities out of his mouth and kept the natural soft, sonic screech out of his words when he spoke. Though he didn't care so much for those reasons, Hellbat preferred his mouthguard over none, because he felt more secure and protected with it on.

Once he had taken it off, Leozack held out his servo, glaring for the rafale jet to defy him. The blue sparkling did not; handing his mouthguard over with no questions asked. His friend then tucked it away somewhere behind him, canting his helm slightly at Hellbat's exposed face, before he sat up and grabbed the other's cheekplates. Surprised and once more baffled, Hellbat allowed Leozack to study him quietly, enjoying the warmth and softness of the teal sparkling's servos on him even if the poking and prodding was somewhat annoying.

After a klik or two more, the tomcat sat back, falling into his former act of silently staring at the other Destron.

"I-i, umm..."

"Kiss me."

Hellbat shuttered his optics bewilderingly at the request. "...w-what?," he stuttered, his pitch rising a tad.

"I said 'kiss me'," Leozack repeated. He glared. "You do know what that is, correct?"

The blue sparkling nodded slowly, feeling his fuel tanks begin a funny little flip-flop. Seeing that his friend was waiting for him to move, Hellbat steeled himself and leaned forward, heading for Leozack's cheekplate. He was stopped by a servo smacking into his mouth. Backing way, the rafale shuttered his optics at the other sparkling, not understanding why he was stopped.

"Like the adults do," the teal Destron glowered.

A strange sound clicked from Hellbat's vocalizer and he looked into Leozack's optics in stunned disbelief. The other jet merely sniffed, shuttering his optics and waiting impatiently for the blue sparkling to do as he was told. Clenching his fists in his lap, Hellbat leaned forward again; his wings shivering behind him nervously and his intakes cycling faster than normal. Time between them seemed to drag on for an eternity before he had finally closed the distance, the anxious mech's lip components meeting Leozack's.

In all manner of speaking, it was a terrible kiss. Nothing more than the press of two, inexperienced lip components pressed into flat, hard lines, meeting each other in a quick, fleeting bump before Hellbat was pulling back; his face turned to the floor and his cheekplates burning up a storm. The blue sparkling almost didn't realize that his mouthguard was being held back out for him by a teal servo.

"Here," Leozack said flatly as Hellbat glanced up, appearing unaffected by the exchange that had just happened.

Unable to properly speak yet, the jet nodded his thanks, smiling at his friend before setting the mouthguard back into place. The teal sparkling said nothing, rising to his pedes and walking back out to the rest of their recharging centre-mates. Too high on his euphoric cloud to be bothered by this, Hellbat got up and tip-toed out as well, re-claiming his spot beside Leozack and settling in for the rest of his nap.

He never noticed that his friend was watching him as he brushed momentarily at the front of his mouthguard, where his lip components still tingled pleasantly, before he slipped off to recharge.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

Hellbat supposed it was his own fault when he ended up getting sick after that incident.

His carrier fussed over him for a whole week, and refused to allow him to go back to the care-centre until he was entirely better. For the whole duration of it, the sparkling pouted, longing to see Leozack. He had thought that the other Destron would welcome him warmly when he came back...

"IDIOT!," Leozack yelled, bunching his fists at his sides as he stared down at the fallen sparkling.

Hellbat cupped his dented mouthguard, coolant filling his optics at the painful sting registering from his cheekplate under the bent plating. He glanced quickly around the centre's yard, spotting that at least one caretaker was looking over at them, trying to see what all the commotion was about. Not wanting Leozack to get in trouble after not seeing his friend in so long, Hellbat clambered back up to his pedes, forcing himself to appear uninjured.

"B-but... but Leozack," the blue sparkling pleaded, "I-i was sick. Momma w-wouldn't let me c-come back until I was all better!"

The tomcat paused in raising his other fist, glaring at Hellbat. "...you weren't thinking of running away?," Leozack asked quietly.

The very thought was out of the question to the rafale. "N-no! Never!," Hellbat assured, "I...I missed you a lot."

For a moment, the teal jet merely looked at him suspiciously, as if not believing him. And then, something Hellbat never thought possible, happened. Leozack's optics begin to glisten and fill with coolant. The blue Destron found his arms full of a weeping sparkling the next instant, Leozack throwing his arms tight around Hellbat's neck and burying his face into one of his helm fins.

"D-don't... don't e-ever leave m-me...," came the weak, broken whimper against his audio.

Quietly, the blue sparkling wrapped his arms around his friend, hugging him tight. "I won't. I promise."

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

The crying incident was never spoken of again, partly because Hellbat didn't know what to say about it and mostly because he believed Leozack didn't want to talk about it either. It was more noticeable though that the teal jet was becoming comfortable with the other sparkling and their friendship was blossoming well.

This was something that the blue Destron was glad for.

The longer he was by Leozack's side, the more Hellbat wanted to forever remain with the tomcat. He always felt happiest when he was playing with the other sparkling; always did his best when he knew that Leozack was watching. He wanted his friend to be happy too. He wanted to do something or be something that could bring a smile to the teal mech's face. To hear Leozack laugh -freely and joyfully- was his most frequent dream.

As young as he was, Hellbat never understood that his feelings for the other Destron had gone beyond merely friendly.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

"Are... are you okay?"

Hellbat allowed himself to be tugged and pulled down different hallways, half-tempted to glance around at their fleeting surroundings, but finding his attention fixed entirely on Leozack in front of him. The teal sparkling said nothing to his question, helm whipping back and forth rapidly, looking for what, Hellbat didn't know. It was the first time he'd been in this sector of the Fortress.

"We-well, I mean," the rafale began to ramble aloud, "You were late, a-and almost weren't ab-able to come on the field trip, a-and now we're g-going down strange halls, a-and... umm, shouldn't w-we stay with t-the group? I mean-"

Leozack shot him a dry look over one shoulder plating and Hellbat fell quiet. Slowing down now, the teal sparkling led them to a door. A large sign on front of it read, "Restricted Area. Authorized Personnel Only." Before the anxious jet could protest, his friend was reaching up and punching in some code to the keypad; shoving Hellbat into the room and following.

It was dark for about three astroseconds when the door slammed behind them, then the sensors indicated that there was someone in the room and pot lights along the floor and ceiling turned on. The blue sparkling looked around, torn between awe and fear, at the line of shelves situated along the room, each carrying glass tubes filled with some sort of green, almost phosphorescent liquid.

"W-where... where are we?," Hellbat gaped, taking a step towards one of the tubes.

His servo was snatched away before he could reach out and touch the glass; the rafale being yanked down through the columns to a dark corner on the other side of the room. Pushing Hellbat into the shadows, Leozack glanced down between them quickly, before fixing the other sparkling with a glare.

"Show me."

"Show...s-show what?," the confused Destron asked.

Leozack's lip components twisted in a snarl. "Don't play dumb! Show me!," he demanded, "Show me your spike! I want to see it."

Hellbat flinched at the order, pressing back into the wall. He didn't feel at all comfortable with what his friend was demanding but couldn't think of how to get out of this situation. "L-leozack, I-i..."

The teal jet snarled in contempt before shuttering his own optics tight. The blue sparkling didn't have to ask what the other was doing, because next thing Hellbat knew, there was the hissing of plating retracting and he watched with flared optics as Leozack's spike pressurized into view. Feeling obligated now, the rafale shuttered his own optics, biting back his own unease and commanding his codpiece to withdraw and to reveal his interface equipment. A chill ran across his circuits as the cooler temperature of the room brushed along his private housing for the first time.

Astroseconds passed, then a klik, and hearing nothing from the other sparkling, Hellbat onlined his optics, shocked to see tears once more in Leozack's optics. "...w-why...?," came the soft whimper from his friend, "...w-why is i-it different...?"

Perplexed, the blue jet glanced downwards, seeing what the teal Destron was talking about. Underneath his codpiece, there was a gridwork of delicate cables, plugging into the housing chamber where both spike and valve were. An opaque, pink film covered both the tabbed spike and untouched port, noting the sparkling's inexperience. Glancing upwards, Hellbat could see the horrifying differences between his interface equipment and Leozack's. There was no pink film covering his hardware, not even traces of it, and the cabling around his housing chamber was ragged and different colours of silver and grey -as if the cabling had been torn up on various occasions and hadn't healed properly. Even the housing showed signs of scarring; the aperture of the tomcat's valve wider than Hellbat's and his pressurized spike covered in tiny scratches, mostly around the tip.

Things were slowly starting to connect in the other sparkling's processor, and he knew without a doubt that the state of his friend's interface equipment was... _wrong._

"That...," Leozack hissed. "I-it, no..."

Hellbat turned his helm up, watching as the teal jet took a step back, folding into himself a little as he glared at the floor. Stupidly, he tried to take a step forward, and winced when he saw Leozack flinch in return.

"L-leozack... I-i..."

"NO! IT ISN'T FAIR!" With the screamed cry, the tomcat whirled away, racing for the door out of the storage room, not stopping or looking back once.

"Leozack!," Hellbat cried after his friend, covering himself up again and hurrying after the crying sparkling. He crashed through the door just astroseconds after Leozack did, tripping, before he was able to right himself back up and attempted to chase the teal Destron down the hall. But then Leozack turned a corner up ahead and when Hellbat reached it, the other mech was already reaching the end of the second corridor.

There was no way he could catch up...

Collapsing against the nearest wall, Hellbat watched as Leozack ran and ran, until he was out of sight completely, then the blue jet slid down to the floor, wrapped his arms around himself, and cried.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

The next orn, Leozack didn't come to the care-centre. Nor the orn after that, or the orn after that, or the orn after that...

After a month, Hellbat accepted that Leozack was never coming back.

* * *

**xxXxXxx**

* * *

"Congratulations on completing your training, soldier."

Hellbat turned to his drill sergeant, half-smiling in thanks. The old mech grinned broadly, clapping the newly elected spy and warrior on the back. "Lord Deathsaurus will be quite proud to have you in his ranks. Especially considering you were one of the few soldiers compatible to under-go the breastanimal link-up. His Emperor is quite fond of his breastanimals."

The blue Destron nodded. He was aware of the dragon-former's preference to the new technology. The breastanimals did lean a sort of advantage in power, skill and stamina to their wielders. Lord Deathsaurus himself had two -the only one of their kin to be able to sustain both breastanimals.

Hellbat confessed he was eager for his new partner, Komoribreast, and himself to get out into the field of battle.

He'd grown tired of the mundane, peaceful illusion of life within the Fortress.

"Why, Lord Deathsaurus has even put together a special branch of officers for such an occasion," his drill sergeant was saying still. The younger mech piqued at the words. "Called the BreastForce, because they all use breastanimals too. And apparently, you're all compatible for linking up into a superior mode with your commanding officer."

This was news to the spy. "Who's the commanding officer?," he asked, curious.

His instructor grinned. "Oh, I'm sure you'll hear much about him once you head out for the field," the mech replied. "He is after all, one of our greatest soldiers out there and second in charge to the Emperor as well! Yes, lieutenant commander Leozack is the finest mech you'll find around..."

Hellbat's optics flashed at the name. Could it be...?

"Anyways," the drill sergeant was saying now, "You better head on over to the launch docks, son. You're scheduled to fly off with a dozen of your other comrades. They've got other sectors to head to, but the commanding pilot will upload a star map and GPS heading into your navigation system. You ride with the ship for half the journey, and fly by yourself the rest. Good luck, soldier." Patting his backstruts one last time, the old mech turned and headed back into the training room from which he had come, already shouting at the batch of new recruits piling inside.

Without a backwards glance, Hellbat started a brisk march for the launch docks, his spark slowly whirling up into a frenzy as he thought over what his sergeant had told him. Leozack... After all these years, could it really be the same beautiful, wonderful, violent sparkling that he had longed to spend all his orns with back in the care-centre? Oh, how the blue mech hoped so.

He'd spent too long reminiscing and regretting their last, horrible parting; if the chance to see his old friend was close, there was nothing that Hellbat wouldn't do to take it.

"Leozack...," he mumbled to himself, sighing in blissful anticipation, "If it's really you... wait for me, a little longer. I promised to never leave you, and it's a promise I intend to keep."

* * *

**C.M.D: Though not at all what I had initially intended, I still love the way this fic came out. I think it's really swell, and I hope you enjoyed it just as much! Ahhh~ Hellbat and Leozack. You guys are just a well of comedic and angsty genius!  
Be kind; give me your mind~ REVIEW, please?**


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